Can cancer stem cells repopulate a Tumour?

In another case, cancer may, more often, increase in aggression following therapeutic intervention such as chemotherapy, due to the presence of subpopulation of stem-like cells with resistance properties, subsequently capable of re-initiating the tumour, causing tumour relapse.

Do cancer cells continue to grow?

A cancer can continue to grow because cancer cells act differently than normal cells. Cancer cells are different from normal cells because they: divide out of control. are immature and don’t develop into mature cells with specific jobs.

Are stem cells the future of cancer treatment?

A rationale for a new treatment strategy is emerging that specifically targets the cancer stem cells, which may only be a very small percentage of the total tumor mass. In combination with current treatments, however, these new treatments may lead to a more complete and durable response.

How do stem cell transplants work against cancer?

How Stem Cell Transplants Work against Cancer. Stem cell transplants do not usually work against cancer directly. Instead, they help you recover your ability to produce stem cells after treatment with very high doses of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or both. However, in multiple myeloma and some types of leukemia,…

Can cancer stem cells seed cancer tumors?

In 2003, Michael Clarke of the University of Michigan and now at Stanford, found cancer stem cells in breast tumors and demonstrated that most other cells in the tumor were incapable of seeding growth on their own. Others followed with similar discoveries in brain cancer, colon cancer, bone cancer and melanoma.

Are stem cells the source of most cancers?

They may in fact be the source of some, and possibly most cancers. Lurking somewhere within every tumor, some say, are a few stem cells that have lost their genetic marbles, so to speak – continuously supplying a malignant mass with cancerous cells. Stem cells are key to our normal development and health from conception through adulthood.